Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Black money: Govt gives Supreme Court list of 627 bank accounts
BackBack

Black money: Govt gives Supreme Court list of 627 bank accounts

Supreme Court has asked the SIT to submit a status report as soon as possible, latest by the end of November

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told reporters later that more than half the names in the list were of Indian residents and the rest were NRIs who do not pay taxes in India. Photo: Mint Premium
Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told reporters later that more than half the names in the list were of Indian residents and the rest were NRIs who do not pay taxes in India. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government on Wednesday gave the Supreme Court a list of 627 bank accounts held by Indians in HSBC Holdings Plc. in Geneva, Switzerland. The information, given to the Indian government by France in 2011, was handed over in a sealed envelope.

Along with the list, a report on the status of investigations against the people mentioned in the list was also given in sealed cover.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu did not open the sealed cover, saying the information would be forwarded to the special investigation team (SIT) probing a case seeking the return of so-called black money, or untaxed wealth earned through illegal means, allegedly stashed away by Indians in foreign banks.

Two former judges of the apex court—M.B. Shah, who heads the SIT, and Arijit Pasayat, the vice-chairman—will have access to the information, according to the court.

The court said the SIT will devise its own procedure to deal with the issue, in accordance with law, since the retired Supreme Court judges understand the consequences that disclosure of this information could have. The SIT has been asked to submit a status report as soon as possible, latest by the end of November.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the court that public disclosure of these names could impede negotiations for an inter-government agreement with the US which in turn could have severe financial implications for Indian economy.

Rohatgi said the list was given to India by the French government in July 2011 and had already been provided to the SIT on 27 June. He also informed the apex court that the deadline for income-tax authorities to conclude all investigations and complete assessments of the people on the list was 31 March 2015.

The attorney general told the media after the hearing that more than half the names on the list were of Indian residents while the rest were non-resident Indians (NRIs), who do not pay taxes in India.

The apex court allowed the government and the petitioner in the case, senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, to approach the SIT to explain their stands on disclosure of names.

But the court denied such permission to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, who had filed an intervention application in the case, saying it would consider Kejriwal’s request on 3 December.

In his intervention, Kejriwal, who was represented by lawyer Prashant Bhushan, said even though the government had told the apex court that it had no objections to revealing names once investigations had been completed, and prosecutable evidence found, it had not disclosed such information with regard to three people who had been investigated by the income tax department in 2011. “This country is entitled to know the names of people whose names are prima facie (on the face of it) found to be illegal," he argued.

The submission of the list follows a Supreme Court order on Tuesday asking the central government to furnish by Wednesday all information it had on foreign bank accounts held by Indian nationals.

Commenting on the case, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government was sensitive to the issue and sincere in its actions.

To a question on the government bowing to the SC order on disclosing certain names, he said, “It is not a question of bowing down. Our intention is to bring back the black money wherever it is parked in the world. There is a legal process and the government is working strongly in this direction."

Naqvi said the government had encouraged other countries to cooperate with India in its
investigations into black money.

“This resulted in disclosure of some things, one after another. The government has respected whatever the court has said and whatever the information the government had, it has given it."

On Monday, the government had in an affidavit revealed the names of certain individuals and entities under investigation.

The case dates back to a 2009 public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Jethmalani. The Supreme Court set up a SIT in 2011, which was reconstituted by the government in May.

The BJP came to power after the April-May general elections, defeating the Congress party, whose image was dented by several corruption scandals in the second of its two consecutive terms. One of the BJP’s campaign pledges was to bring back to India black money—allegedly spirited away overseas by Indians.

“It is wrong for any political party to try to fool the people by taking credit for anything. You have been promising as a party in power some 55,000 accounts in some nine months in the election campaign. Even 55 has not come in five months. What you have done today is entirely on yesterday’s court order," Congress leader and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. PTI contributed to this story.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 29 Oct 2014, 11:42 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App